ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Look out below: The Terminator is within the front-runner position again at a serious championship.
Brooks Koepka all the time has a glance about him that screams that he’s taking no prisoners. That will not be excellent news for Viktor Hovland and Corey Conners, the 2 players Koepka leads by one stroke entering the ultimate round of the a hundred and fifth PGA Championship at Oak Hill.
Koepka, who conquered brutal Oak Hill and the hellacious rainy conditions Saturday through the third round by posting the low-round of the day at 4-under 66, is 6-under for the week. Hovland and Conners are each 5-under after shooting even-par 70s.
Bryson DeChambeau is three shots off the lead at 3-under, followed by Scottie Scheffler and Justin Rose at 2-under, Rory McIlroy at 1-under and club pro Michael Block and Justin Suh at even.
It indeed figures to be an interesting final round with so many diverse stories in position to hoist the Wanamaker Trophy by the top of the ultimate round Sunday.
Despite the actual fact he owns 4 profession major championships and has already won two PGA Championships, Koepka is entering the ultimate round with a large chip on his broad shoulders.
Koepka has a rating to settle. Not with other players, but with himself for what he did last month at Augusta National within the Masters. He entered the ultimate round of the Masters with a four-shot lead, shot 75 and lost by 4 shots to Jon Rahm. Koepka said that he couldn’t sleep the night after that final round at Augusta because he was wired, analyzing in his head what went incorrect.
Koepka revealed later that his conclusion to the Masters final-round failure was that he “played to not win’’ that day. Before this PGA, he conceded that he “choked.’’
“I do know what I did and I promise I won’t show up like that tomorrow,’’ Koepka said after his round Saturday. “I won’t have that thought process again. It’ll be completely different. I’ll never do it again. Should you can do what I’m attempting to got down to do, it’s as much as playing good, and that’s what I got down to do tomorrow.’’
Koepka said the lesson he learned from Augusta was “to simply never think the way in which I assumed going into the ultimate round. Learning what I learned at Augusta type of helped today. I won’t do it again the remaining of my profession.’’
If it’s a serious championship, the likelihood that Koepka goes to be an element is relatively great. He’s a serious championship contention machine.
How dangerous is Koepka at major championships?
In 35 profession starts, he has 4 wins, 13 top-5 finishes and 16 top-10s, while Hovland and Conners have combined to play in 30 majors and have one top-5 finish — Hovland’s tie for fourth on the 2022 British Open.
Conners looked like he was owning the day Saturday. The soft-spoken Canadian had a fantastic round going — bogey-free with two birdies — until he embedded a shot right into a bunker on the sixteenth hole. The bad break cost him two shots, a double bogey that sent him from 7-under and alone within the result in 5-under and one shot behind Koepka and Hovland.
“Wish I could have that one back,’’ Conners said. “I didn’t make great contact there,’’ Conners said. “I saw everybody looking up within the air. I assumed it possibly skipped up. But I didn’t see anything land and was pretty certain it was embedded there. It was an unlucky situation and a poor shot.’’
Essentially the most compelling pairing of the day was Koepka and DeChambeau, each former rivals and now fellow LIV Golf members. Once they were introduced at the primary tee, DeChambeau drew audible boos from the gang and Koepka got a mixed response.
“Look, it’s Recent York, and I expect it here. I appreciate the fans, them doing that to me,’’ DeChambeau said. “It’s like, ‘OK, cool, no problem.’ I’ve got no problem, either way. If we got applause, that’s improbable and if not, what … it still was fun today.’’
Koepka, who has won two of his major championships in Recent York — U.S. Opens at Bethpage Black and Shinnecock Hills — said, “I really like Recent York.’’
“It’s all the time fun,’’ he went on. “You do something very well, they will let . And when you do something pretty poor, they will let , and I just love that. I really like when the fans are on you, cheering for you, or , supplying you with crap when you screw up. You wish that, or not less than I need that atmosphere.’’
